Young Colombian climber Henao signs for Sky

Sky have announced the signing of top young Colombian climbing talent Sergio Henao for 2012.

The announcement comes as Henao sits atop the general classification in the Tour of Utah, riding for his Gobernacion de Antioquia team.

The Colombian has signed a two-year contract with the team. He has been linked with a move to Sky for some time, and was listed on CW’s transfer index as a likely transfer this summer.

“We are absolutely delighted to have him on board and are really looking forward to guiding and developing such a great talent,” said David Brailsford said on the Team Sky website. “His performance in Utah this week confirms our belief that he is one of the World’s biggest climbing talents and has a very bright future ahead of him.”

Henao’s best career result so far was in 2010, when he won the overall title at the Tour of Colombia, a race renowned for its difficulty. He finished fourth in the same race this year, leading it for four of its stages, but has little experience of riding in Europe at this point in his career.

He will join fellow Colombian Rigoberto Urán Urán at Sky, who has enjoyed an excellent first season in Europe so far. He finished fifth in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and held the white jersey for a number of days at the Tour de France.